Advice for Moms
My 14 months old daughter gets bored at meal time whether we are feeding her or she is feeding herself. As a result, she doesn't eat enough during the day and wakes up to have milk at night (sometimes 3x 6 ounces total). My nanny finds that if she gets her to play with a puzzle or narrate while the baby Einstein video is on, she tends to eat more. What's up with that?
Replies
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My son was like that when he was last age but lucky it was just a phase. I would play music and sing songs while he ate.
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some kids would rather play than eat....they outgrow it...
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What's up with that is that your baby is in control of meal time and you've allowed your "nanny" to allow her to be in control.
First of all cut out the milk in the middle of the night. If she takes a bottle you are exposing her to poosible bottle rot where the milk sugars ramain on the teeth and cause the baby teeth to decay, causing problems to the adult teeth later on. There should be no television within viewing range when eating. If she is done eatig excuse her from the table. She may be the type who eats smaller meals throughout the day rather than three regular meals. Frankly I would get rid of the "nanny" and parent your child yourself
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No 14 month old will sit to eat for more than several minutes. Allow her a variety of foods several times throughout the day. Do NOT let her watch television during meals. Puzzles are fine, but electronic entertainment should not be combined with eating. It sets up terrible habits and can lead to overeating and obesity. Healthy snacks she can graze on (fruits and veggies, lean meats, whole grains, no processed foods) that are in an ice cube tray on a kid sized table are usually a great way to go about this. set it out for an hour, let her go back and forth, and put it away for a couple hours. I don't worry about sitting down for meals for extended periods of time until 2-3 years old. 14 months is still not much more than a baby.
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You might want to consider that she's a working mom...
Quoting CoeyG:
What's up with that is that your baby is in control of meal time and you've allowed your "nanny" to allow her to be in control.
First of all cut out the milk in the middle of the night. If she takes a bottle you are exposing her to poosible bottle rot where the milk sugars ramain on the teeth and cause the baby teeth to decay, causing problems to the adult teeth later on. There should be no television within viewing range when eating. If she is done eatig excuse her from the table. She may be the type who eats smaller meals throughout the day rather than three regular meals. Frankly I would get rid of the "nanny" and parent your child yourself
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Thanks for replying. I hope it is a phase. We are trying to teach her feed herself which makes it more fun.
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Thanks for the good idea.
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I think that sometimes we fail to consider that a 14 month old is not going to eat much to begin with. She's still just a baby. Make meal time about meals and not TV watching or playing but at the same time make it enjoyable for her. Interact with her during the meal so that she doesn't get bored so easily. Offer healthy snacks throughout the day to encourage her to eat when she is hungry. Although it's easy to hand her a cracker or cookie, those are empty calories and should be avoided as much as possible. Instead, try green beans or if she's able to eat them, meat sticks or cheese sticks. Be wary that your nanny is not being lazy and just letting her dictate instead of teaching her. Some "nannys" are just babysitters--not educated in child development as a true "nanny" is. If she is just sitting and not working with your child, find someone new who is educated and willing (more to the point EAGER) to work with your child to help her become the best she can be...not just let the chips fall where they may. Ideally, the mother is the best one to help her child grow and develop but of course, that isn't always possible.
Hope that helps! ♥Hugs♥
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I would not give her milk at night. If she doesn't eat dinner, then she has to wait until breakfast to eat again. I used to worry about my daughter not eating lots of dinner but I finally realized that if she didn't eat dinner, she would eat a lot of breakfast the next day.
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I have an 8 month old baby boy who is the same way. He will try to squirm out of his highchair and gets so bored.. even though I know he is hungry. I have started moving the highchair to different spots around the house. I figured that sometimes he may be bored with seeing the same thing over and over again. I'll also put him in different things- he sometimes walks around in his walker while I feed him.. he gets a spoonful, walks away, turns right back around for another spoonful. Try different things with her.. you'll figure out something that works best for her!